Barnacle Bill Magazine March 2016 issue 3 | Page 35

35

The
Bosun’s Mate
Left: An antique western hand saw.
Before the influx of pressed teeth
blades in the 1970s onwards, most
western saws were of decent quality. Vintage saws like this one can often be cheaply sourced and brought
back to life with a few hours work.
Here, a new handle is possibly required, new rivers and the blade
cleaned up and teeth sharpened.

use. The boats would be built in my garage and basement, hulls in the garage, spars and foils and carpentry in
the basement. I realise that I am fortunate to have such space, especially in the UK. Most of us in the densely
populated northern European countries, especially the UK, Netherlands, Belgium and Northern Germany
don’t have the household space I have. Therefore the workshop must be equipped to be collapsed and stored.
Gone were dreams of a bespoke workbench of megalithic proportions you drool over and see in the workshops
of some American and Canadian amateur boat builders and carpenters. In were a couple of folding Black &
Decker type Workmate benches and light, effective tools that could be packed up and stored.
Then the question of saws; I own a few pretty rubbish power saws. These are fine for basic work and for cutting MDF etc. but the cuts they make are not of sufficient quality really. Also, they were very tricky to use in
a straight or a curved line, the speed of the cut on costly marine plywood was terrifying and a slight mistake
would be very expensive in ply. I also have an issue with power tools, mostly because I think they can encourage you to hurry your work, we live in an era of instant gratification which is all that less gratifying because it
is instant. I want my boat finished NOW…well, go and buy a boat then.

Right: hand saws come
in different shapes and
sizes depending on
their function. Here
is a good example of
the western pistol grip
which is more suited
for cutting on the push
stroke. The pruning
saw and the ‘Gent’s’
typically have straight
handles